Deals with the Dark
by Jazz
Summary: When Willow goes to LA to meet with W&H, it sets off a series of events that not even Willow would have dreamed possible.


Deals with the Dark - By Jazz

Title: Deals with the Dark   
Author: Jazz   
E-mail: jazz_s_shadow@hotmail.com   
Disclaimer: Willow & Co. don't belong to me, and unfortunately never will. They belong to Joss and his cronies.   
Rating: R  
Summary: Willow and Lindsey meet... And then a ton of stuff happens

Deals with the Dark 

Lindsey stood on the tarmac, watching the planes take off and land while he waited for one particular plane to arrive. It was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago, but there was nothing to be done, except wait. The senior partners had been very clear that he pick up a potential ally, and to treat her with the utmost respect. So, he waited. Finally, the plane arrived, almost forty minutes late. It stopped not very far from him, and within a few minutes the passengers alighted from the plane. Lindsey watched them carefully, as all he knew about the lady was that she was a small-statured redhead, and that her name was Willow Rosenberg. 

A young woman, one could almost call her a girl, exited the plane with the last few passengers. A backpack was slung over one shoulder, making her look like a high-school student heading for class. However, Lindsey was quite certain that this was the Willow Rosenberg that he was waiting for. He knew better than to believe the allusion that she was harmless. If she was harmless, W&H wouldn't want her skills, whatever they were, so badly. 

"Ms. Rosenberg?" he asked politely once she had stopped before him. She gave a small nod that was accompanied by a shy smile. "Lindsey McDonald," he introduced himself as he offered her his hand. She shook it, and Lindsey couldn't help but notice the strength of her grip in comparison to the seeming frailness of her body. "I have a limo waiting." Ms. Rosenberg nodded again, and allowed herself to be led to the limousine. The driver that had been leaning against the limo while they were waiting opened the door for her, and she gracefully entered the vehicle. Lindsey followed suit, and the driver hurried back to the driver's seat. They were very late due to her plane's delay, and the partners of W&H didn't like failures of any kind, even ones as small as being late.

"May I offer you a refreshment?" Lindsey offered. She just smiled that shy unassuming smile again and shook her head. Lindsey took the hint, and remained silent for the remainder of the journey to W&H's headquarters. The limo drove into the underground parking garage, and stopped by the Sub-Level One main entrance. A doorman immediately opened the door, and Lindsey exited the limo, followed by Ms. Rosenberg. Once they were inside the building, Lindsey led the way to Holland's office, while he discreetly watched her. She was examining her surroundings carefully, but without the awe that was sometimes present due to the sheer luxury that surrounded them. She was a mystery, Lindsey decided. And she intrigued him.

They reached Holland's office a few minutes later, and Lindsey turned to leave and return to one of his cases. 

"He stays." Lindsey blinked, as did Holland. It was the first time he heard her voice, and it was very pleasant on the ears. He was surprised that she wanted him to stay, however. From the trip over, he'd gotten the impression that she wanted nothing to do with him.

"Lindsey has a lot of work to do," Holland told the girl pleasantly, but with a bit of a 'I know better than you so you'd better listen to me' tone to it. Ms. Rosenberg was obviously not impressed.

"He stays or I leave." Lindsey's eyes widened just a fraction, and turned to look at Holland with an upraised eyebrow. Holland's smile never wavered. The request was unusual, but if there was one thing that was a sure thing at W&H, it was that they catered to the unusual.

"Very well then. He stays. If you'd like to have a seat, Ms. Rosenberg." She took one with that graceful style she had, as Lindsey tried to figure out exactly what he was supposed to do. He was going to lean against a wall, before her soft voice issued another statement.

"Sit." Lindsey sat. He didn't know why she wanted him here, but if Holland agreed with her, than stay he would. He listened as Holland extolled on the benefits that would be hers if she worked for them. She simply raised a disinterested eyebrow, and told him to get on with it and tell her about the job. Holland blinked slightly, as few people sounded so disinterested when such large amounts of money were mentioned, but went along with her suggestion, and explained various assignments that she might have if she were to work with them. Holland finally winded down, and waited for Ms. Rosenberg's response.

"I'll work for you on two conditions," she said softly. "I have full choice over my assignments. If I say no to one, then it's no and I don't want to hear another word about it." Holland nodded, agreeing to the term. After all, everyone had limits. 

"And the second?" 

"You've acquired a certain ancient text here. I want it." Holland asked which text, and swallowed when he got the name.

"I'll have to speak with the senior partners about that term."

"Will it take long?" she asked, as she examined her fingernails in a bored manner.

"No, not long," he said, as he rose and left the room, but not before he shot Lindsey a heated glance. It clearly said 'keep her happy'. 

"Do you practice magic, Lindsey?" she asked a few moments later.

"Magic?" he answered, surprised. "No, I…" he stopped when she looked at him with a strange light in her eyes.

"Don't lie to me, Lindsey. I don't like it."

"A little. Not much." She nodded. 

"Will W&H provide me with lodgings when I'm in the city?" 

"Yes," he answered. "In a hotel, or an apartment if you'd prefer." She nodded again.

"Good," she said softly, as Holland re-entered the room.

"You can have the text after you've completed your first assignment."

"Excellent." She rose, and moved to leave the room, but before she did, she paused and then looked over her shoulder. "What does your schedule look like today, Lindsey?"

"I have a court date in an hour," he glanced down at his watch, "or closer to forty minutes now," he replied, not quite keeping the puzzlement out of his voice. The non-sequiters that she came up with were quite interesting. And dangerous, if they involved him in any way, shape, or form. 

"Meet me after you're finished at my hotel," she said casually, and the walked out of the room. Lindsey swallowed heavily. He didn't like where things were going. The talk of the magic he'd once wielded made him very uncomfortable, and the fact that Ms. Rosenberg's primary talents were of a magical nature… Well, at this point, it was better not to think about it. He nodded to Holland on the way to his office to get his briefcase and the notes for his court case. He had a trial to win. He'd worry about the rest later.

****

Part 2

Willow looked around her hotel room with a careful eye. It was a nice suite in a fairly expensive hotel. W&H obviously treated their allies with respect, which was a good thing. The fact that they spied on them was less good, but not surprising. Willow easily destroyed the surveillance equipment in the room. She sprawled down onto the bed with a sigh of relief. She'd pulled it off. From the time that Lindsey had met her after she'd alighted from the plane until after she'd reached her hotel room, she'd been playing the act of a jaded mage. Frankly, she was surprised she'd managed to pull it off, but she had. They didn't know that inside she felt like a giddy teenager. She'd managed to keep the upper hand and showed no emotion. That was important in meetings such as she'd had with W&H. Angelus had demonstrated this to her, and he no doubt would have been proud of the way she'd handled herself today.

Angelus. A sad smile graced her face. It was almost two years now since her mate had regained his soul and become the stranger he was now. The goody-good souled version of Angelus that helped the Slayer like a lap dog and had moved away from Sunnydale to this city. How she longed for her mate… She wanted his cold arms around her, asking how her day had been. She wanted to see the light in his eyes as he watched Dru dance around a room talking about how the stars were singing to her. She wanted to feel him inside her again. She wanted to be whole.

Whole… She remembered a discussion she'd had with Angelus not long after they'd gotten together. About how she'd felt more whole than she'd ever felt before, but how there was still an empty hole inside of herself. Angelus had explained that they had somehow become one of the few people who were to love two people. Have two 'soul' mates, so to speak, regardless of the fact that Angelus didn't have a soul.

The second part of herself belonged to Lindsey. She knew this the moment she'd seen him. She doubted that he'd recognized her, however. Angelus hadn't recognized the connection at first, either, and he'd had more than two centuries behind him. No, Lindsey would need some coaxing. But Willow was more than willing to do that. She longed to have the arms of someone who loved her around her again. Tonight Lindsey would come to her. She knew that he was too scared of both her and of the senior partners of W&H to do otherwise. She'd seduce him, and then he would know. After all, that's what it had taken with Angelus. She had no doubt that the same would work with Lindsey.

Her thoughts moved away from Lindsey to the text that she'd soon acquire. Within it were several powerful spells. And the two that she wanted the book for was for one that removed a soul from a person, and another that created invulnerability amulets, like the Gem of Amara had been. With those two spells, she'd have her mate back, and a guarantee that she would never lose him again. She wondered what Angelus would think of Lindsey. Who knew, perhaps they'd already met…

Drowsy, Willow allowed her eyes to close. She'd be in for a busy night. Best get some sleep.

***

Lindsey took a deep breath as he looked at Ms. Rosenberg hotel room door. The trial had taken longer than he had hoped, but since he'd won, he supposed it mattered little. The case hadn't really concerned him. He'd won dozens of similar ones before. This meeting, however… It was making butterflies do kamikaze runs in his stomach. He didn't know why she unnerved him so much. She was one of the more normal people of the various personnel that W&H had. 

Quit thinking and knock on the door! he sharply reprimanded himself, before knock on the door in a confident manner that he in no way felt. Damn! What is it about this woman?

Several anxious minutes later, the door finally opened to reveal Ms. Rosenberg. Her hair was tousled and looked like it had been finger combed, and her clothes were rumbled. Perhaps she had taken a nap?

"Sorry it took me so long to answer, Lindsey. Please," she motioned him to enter, so he did, brushing against her slightly. The skin that had touched her felt like it had been electrified. 

"Ms. Rosenberg," he started, but she interrupted him.

"Please call me Willow."

"Willow…" he trailed off, no longer certain what to say.

"There's no need to be nervous, Lindsey," she said as she crouched slightly in front of him. Her hand reached out and cupped his cheek. Lindsey shuddered with the sensations that coursed through him, and closed his eyes. He felt her pick up his right hand, and he stiffened. The hand that Angel had cut off. The hand that W&H had reattached through magic, but that he still didn't had full feeling in. His eyes opened to see Willow looking at him. She released his right hand, and picked up his left. She placed in on her cheek, like hers on was his, and then switched hands from her right to her left, so that things were less awkward. If he'd thought her touching him was mind-blowing, the companion of both their hands on each other's faces was explosive. 

"What's…" Lindsey tried to get out.

"Everything will be clear soon, Lindsey. I promise." She then kissed him. Lindsey pressed into the kiss, drawing her to him so that she sat on his lap. He didn't know what was going on, but he did know that he needed her as he had never needed anything before. And he had to have her. And he did. The two made love on the couch, and then later on the bed. And love it was. Lindsey couldn't understand how he could love her, especially considering the fact that she'd intimidated the hell out of him earlier today, but he somehow did love her. Sleep was tugging at him, and although he had so much to ask Willow, he couldn't stay awake to ask her. He was dimly aware of a loving kiss placed on his forehead as he drifted into sleep. They'd talk tomorrow.

****

Part 3

Lindsey slowly woke up, and glanced around himself in confusion for a few moments. Where the hell was he? He blinked a few times as he brought his thoughts back into order. Willow. Of course! Last night came back to him in a rush. He'd made love to Willow. Had fallen in love with Willow. She'd promised they would talk. A quick survey of the room showed no trace of her, but a few moments later, the shower turned on, so he figured it was safe to say that she was in the bathroom. He toyed with the idea of joining her, but decided it was probably be better to use this time to think. So much had happened last night that he just didn't understand. He wasn't one to believe in love at first sight. Or love at first touch, which was closer to what had actually happened. So, how had it happened? Somehow, he knew that Willow would have answers to all his questions. His mate wouldn't let him down. Lindsey blinked. Mate? Where had that come from? It wasn't a term normally used fo! r humans or magic practitioners. So where had it come from?

Willow came out of the bathroom several minutes later, wearing a silk robe and absently toweling her hair dry. She sat on the side of the bed.

"Sleep well?" she asked, with a small smile on her face. 

Lindsey nodded. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but nothing came out as he couldn't figure out what to ask first. It was very frustrating for him considering he was known for being able to think on his feet. Willow gave him another smile.

"You're wondering about what happened last night, I assume?" Lindsey nodded again, trying not to feel like a fool. "Last night we acknowledged our bond as mates."

"Mates?" he said the word with great puzzlement. "I thought that term was only used in relation to vampires."

"It is. We are part of a tri-bond, or a bond of three. Our third is a vampire." Willow's face closed down slightly in sorrow. "I went through this with him. But then, he was taken away from me," he pain she was feeling was quite obvious, as Lindsey wrapped his arms around her. And strangely, he felt no jealousy when Willow talked of loving another man, only compassion that she wasn't still with him. 

"He's dead?" he asked, pain in his own voice. Sub-consciously, he already loved his other mate, despite the fact he knew nothing about him.

"No, he is simply… not truly himself anymore. But the text that W&H will give me, that will enable me to get him back. I'll take what took him from me and banish it into hell." Willow smiled through her tears.

Lindsey frowned in confusion. "How…" he started, before a look of comprehension flowered on his face. "Angel?" he asked hesitantly. Willow gave a small nod. "Angel regained his soul, and you lost you mate. Angelus?" he asked thickly. Willow nodded. "Damn…" was all Lindsey could respond.

"You've met Angel," he said, and it was clearly not a question. Lindsey nodded nonetheless. "A real goody-good, isn't he. Nothing at all like my Angelus." Willow sighed with disgust at her Angelus had become.

"The firm… They consider Angel an enemy…" 

Willow lifted an eyebrow. "So? Either Angelus will prove that he isn't, or he'll just ignore them."

Lindsey nodded, something he noticed that both of them were doing a lot of. He then noticed the clock, and almost freaked. If he didn't get moving this instant, he would be late for a meeting with the senior partners.

"I have to go," he said frantically, as he grabbed his clothing, hoping that no one would notice that they were the exact same things he'd worn yesterday.

"Good luck," she said, as she watched him with a little amusement in her eyes. "I'll be apartment hunting today, won't be back until late." Lindsey nodded, as he quickly laced his shoes, and grabbed his briefcase.

"See you tonight?" he asked, suddenly unsure of himself.

"Of course. I'll finish explaining everything then," she promised, as she gave him a goodbye kiss. He nodded, and then rushed out of the suite towards the elevators. Being late was never a good thing.

****

Part 4

Lindsey sighed as he closed the doors to his office. Two long grueling meetings had left him tired. He longed to hold his mate in his arms again. Lindsey grinned to himself. So quickly he'd adapted to having Willow in his life. Less than 48 hours ago, he hadn't known she existed. It was all so amazing. Then his thoughts turned to Angel. The souled vampire had ruined yet another case for W&H, resulting in their client ending up in jail. The senior partners were quite displeased. Lindsey knew that when Angel lost his souls and became his mate, and returned to being Willow's mate, this problem would end. In fact, Angelus would no doubt become one of W&H assassins, so that it would be all in the family, so to speak. The question was, could Willow make Angel lose his soul? And if she could, why hadn't she done it already? 

The text. Lindsey remembered all of a sudden how the text contained a variety of spells concerning vampires. The spell that Willow needed was no doubt in there. Willow wouldn't have an assignment for several weeks, however, and he wasn't sure he would be able to wait that long. He doubted that Willow could, either. But, if he approached the senior partners with the idea that the text could make it so that Angel would be removed as a threat permanently... He had to try.

Several hours later, after a exhaustive meeting with several of the senior partners, he'd finally convinced them that there was a very good chance for Angel to lose his soul, which would keep them out of W&H hair, and gotten a copy of the text for Willow. He quickly gathered up his things, and ignoring Lilah as she tried to talk to him about something, he left the building from the underground car park, with Willow's hotel suite in mind. He frowned when he realized that she was looking for an apartment, which meant she wouldn't be living with him. Well, he could always ask her about that, and perhaps change her mind.

He knocked on Willow's hotel room door, and unfortunately got no reply. He was about to leave when he remembered Willow slipping something into his pocket this morning before he'd left. He quickly fished into his pocket, and found both the key to the room, which he used to get inside, and a slip of folded paper. He opened this after the door closed behind him, to find what was most likely Willow's handwriting stating that the number was for her cell phone, and to call anytime. 

He punched the number into his cell phone, and waited while it rang. After about eleven rings, and he was certain that she wasn't going to answer, Willow's voice greeted him.

"Hey, Willow. Where are you?" He tried his best to stay calm, but a slightly possessive tone entered his voice nonetheless.

"Oh great. Here I had hoped the possessive thing was a vampire trait," Willow said with a sigh. "I'm looking for a place, remember? Something large and vampire friendly... Somehow I figured that you're place wouldn't do. Am I right?"

"You'd be right," Lindsey said somewhat sheepishly. 

"Well, I found a darling of a place. A little more expensive than I had planned, but doable. Lots of windows, but also very efficient drapes and stuff. Angelus would love it. Well, except for maybe the fact it's on the fiftieth floor... But I'll talk him into it. You don't have a fear of heights, do you Lindsey?"

"No, I don't. And Angelus is the reason I called. I managed to get you the text early." He heard Willow give a squeak of joy, which made him blink. The sheer range of being this woman had...

"I'll be back at the hotel room in a flash!" she told him, and then disconnected the call. Lindsey blinked again. He'd underestimated how much she'd wanted that text... 

And flash was obviously meant to be literal, as Willow flashed into existence right in front of him, leaving Lindsey stupefied.

"Where is it?" she demanded. Lindsey blinked several times as he tried to get his thoughts together. He managed to waive towards his briefcase, which was quickly attacked by Willow. She pulled out the text, and he got to hear that squeak of joy yet again. What an amazing woman...

She was now completely ignoring him as she flipped through the text. Or more accurately, the text flipped itself. She must have cast that researching spell that he'd used himself way back. The name evaded him, although he could remember the words. Surprising, considering the amount of time since he'd last used it...

"I found it! It... Oh man..." The joy in the first sentence was eclipsed by the sheer dejection in the second. Lindsey automatically went to her and hugged her, trying to cheer her up.

"What's wrong?" 

Willow sighed. "If I'm translating this right, the ingredients for the soul removing spell are from extremely rare to unique." Her friend ran down one of the pages, as she read the text. "The blood of all living Childer, willing given. The blood of a Shaper, willing given. The blood of the vampire's mates, willing given. The blood of a Huntress, willing given. The blood of a Slayer, willing given." Willow frowned unhappily.

"A very bloody spell," he said lightly. Willow gave him a small smile. Magic humour. 

"The blood of the vampire's mates..." she said softly, as if to herself. A look of understanding crossed her face, as she flipped to the beginning of the book.

"Willow?"

"Please... please..." she muttered to herself as he read down the page, automatically translating the text into English. "'The spells contained within this book are as the Goddess has given them to me. Each can only be performed once, as the spell will be erased from the book and the caster's memory after the successful casting.'" Willow quoted. She looked at Lindsey, hope again in her eyes. "This spell. It was designed for Angelus. Mates. That's what clued me in. Very few vampires have more than one mate, it's like two in a million. And the chance that said vampire would have a soul?" Willow smiled dazzlingly. "And A Slayer. Not THE Slayer, but A slayer. In a time where there are two."

"It's not going to be easy, will it?" Lindsey asked quietly.

"No," she said somberly. "But it's not impossible. And that's the important part." Willow smiled, as she put the text aside. "It'll take some time to get everything and everybody together. It requires a bunch of rather rare herbs, but I can probably get them through the magic shop. The hard part will be to get all of Angelus' Childer here, as the only one I know the location of is Spike, who's in Sunnydale. The rest are scattered over the world." Willow sighed again. "And as Buffy would never want Angelus' return, the Slayer will have to be Faith. I wonder if we can talk her into it." Willow shook her head. "Everything will fall into place at the proper time, I'm sure. So, Lindsey. Can you fight?"

"Fight?" he asked, unsure of where she was going. "Not really."

"Then you'll have to learn," her voice brooked for no arguments. Lindsey sighed and closed his eyes. Why did he have a bad feeling about this?

*****

Well, two hours later, he knew why he'd had a bad feeling about it. That was because Willow had thrown him around in pretense of teaching him basic defense. Frankly, he hadn't learned anything, but it did look like Willow had released a lot of tension. He wasn't sure if that was worth the sheer number of bruises that covered his body, however. Somehow, he thought there was something to this that he was missing. The only time he'd gotten in even one shot was when he'd sent the first repulsion wave against her. It had surprised her, and briefly enabled him to gain a bit of an upper hand. But she'd quickly regained it, and countered the other waves he'd generated.

"Wasn't that fun?" she asked with a huge mischievous grin on her face. Lindsey just glared at her. "You're going to have to learn how to fight, Lindsey. I enjoy a good fight, and a good fuck afterwards. It was a vampire thing, but now it's my thing too." Lindsey nodded in understanding. He understood now. He'd have to take some karate classes or something. He didn't fancy getting bruised and bloodied on a regular basis.

"Tonight was mostly about beating you up," she said with a grin. Lindsey groaned. "But I just needed to get out some tension. It's a lot more fun with a good opponent, so I'll actually teach you stuff next time. For now," she paused to give him a deep kiss. "Why don't we go on to the second part of that equation?" She kissed him again, and the two tumbled onto the mats. A brief thought for being glad they were in a private and locked workout room was thought before thoughts became impossible due to sheer physical feeling.

****

Part 5

Lindsey looked at his sleeping mate with a smile. The last week had been fraught with activity. Willow had contacted Spike, and he was busy trying to find his siblings. Willow's first assignment had been completed tonight, which was the reason she was so zonked out. The magic it had taken to get rid of that particular pest had been of the major mojo kind, as Willow termed it. He'd been brushing up on his own magic over the last week, and had been surprised at how quickly he was re-learning it, or in some cases, already learning new things. Willow was quite proud of him.

Lindsey let his hand pause as it went to brush a strand of hair away from her face. Something felt very... strange. Like there was a feeling of waiting for something to happen... Or someone to happen. 

"The stars told me that Mummy had found her and Daddy's third. The stars never lie..." said a hauntingly beautiful female voice. Lindsey whirled around to see a dark-haired woman in an empire-waisted dress move around the room, oftentimes twirling around in circles.

"Who are you?" he asked, somewhat harshly. All his instincts were saying vampire, but a vampire needed an invitation to get in, which had not been issued.

"Didn't Mummy tell you about me?" The woman pouted like a child.

"Drusilla?" He asked hesitantly.

She bounced up and down on her toes. "She did tell you about me." Drusilla twirled around again, a huge smile on her face. She then stopped moving and put her finger over her lips. "Shhh... We mustn't disturb Mummy's sleep. She tired herself out."

"Why don't we move to the living room?" Drusilla nodded, and moved towards the door. When it was obvious that Lindsey wasn't following, she turned around and pouted. 

"Aren't you coming?" Lindsey's throat worked as he tried to figure out what to say. Drusilla giggled like a little girl who knew something she shouldn't. "You and Mummy were being naughty, weren't you. I'll wait in the other room," she said, a big smile on her face as she left the room, humming a tune under her 'breath'. Lindsey shook his head, and carefully got out of bed. Wouldn't want to wake Willow after all that. She mumbled slightly as she moved towards where Lindsey had been laying, but remained asleep. Lindsey let out the breath he'd been holding. He quickly and as quietly as he could got dressed in slacks and a shirt, and went to see Drusilla. How had she gotten in?

Drusilla was sitting on the carpet of the living room floor, her dress a circle around herself. A doll was now in her arms. She looked up at Lindsey with eyes that looked far further than the space between the two of them encompassed. He wondered what she saw.

"Drusilla. Why are you here? How did you get in?"

"Daddy needs me. I had to come. And wherever Mummy is, I can come." Lindsey blinked with incomprehension. Drusilla continued to play with her doll, and Lindsey realized that if he wanted anything out of her, he'd have to be blunt. 

"How is that, Drusilla." 

She blinked, and then said in a strange voice, almost as if she were quoting, "Drusilla, anywhere I am, you can be, as your presence where am I is always welcome." She then gave him a dreamy smile.

"Right..."

"Miss Edith told me how Mummy was going to bring Daddy back, so I went back to Sunnydale and listened to that nasty Slayer," those last two words were spoken with absolute venom, "and found out about where Mummy went. And then Miss Edith led me here." She stood up, slowly and gracefully, then skipped over to the window. "Oh, how you can see from here," she said with wonder. Lindsey wondered if it was always this hard to understand her, or if he was just lucky.

"Where's my room?" Drusilla asked all of a sudden. Lindsey blinked, but led her down a hallway to a room that Willow had vamp-proofed a few days ago for when Angelus' Childer showed up. This was the only one that was complete, and it had a decidedly girlish tone to it. He wondered if Willow had known that Dru would be the first to get here. Deciding that he'd had enough for tonight, and trying to understand Dru was giving him a headache, he said his goodnights, and crawled back into bed with Willow after he'd shucked his clothing.

"Quite the family we have, Willow," he said softly as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, and drifted off into slumberland.

****

The next morning he had a playful mate scattering kisses all over his body as she woke him up. The kiss that actually woke him up was more of a swallow than a kiss, and man was that a way to start a day. Several minutes later, he'd collapsed back onto the sheets, and Willow was giggling.

"So, what did you think of our little girl?"

"She's..." he tried to find the most polite way to say she was loony.

"Difficult? Mystical? Crazy? Child-like?" she smirked. "All of the above? Ah, it's good to see family again."

"You've seen her already?" Lindsey couldn't figure out how that could have happened, as he always woke up when Willow left the bed. She'd called it a mate thing.

"No. But I can feel that she's here. The family's going to get all together." A huge smile graced Willow's face. Drusilla drifted into the room. Willow looked at her daughter with a smile.

"The hunt is on, but the cat isn't the prey... Mummy, I can't see the prey." 

"The prey is no one important." Drusilla smiled at her Mummy's words. 

"When's the cat going to come. I want to play with him." 

"He'll be here soon, and I'm sure he'll love to play." Drusilla smiled, then turned her attention to Lindsey. 

"Mummy... I have my Daddy, but..." She frowned at Willow, the indecision in her eyes obvious.

"And now you have a Papa." Drusilla's eyes shined. 

"Papa. Miss Edith, I have a Papa!" She twirled around in joy. "Spikey's going to meet Papa."

"Spike's coming?" Drusilla nodded. "Soon?" She nodded again in joy. "I'm glad the last of the work on those rooms will be finished today.

"And Big Brother is going to take me dancing... Are Spikey and Penn going to fight again?" 

"Probably," Willow said gently. "Penn's nearby?"

"I can hear the stars whispering of the death he brings." Drusilla drifted out of the room. Willow glances at her mate, and noticed that he was looking a little shell-shocked.

"The family is a little hard to adjust to, but you'll get used to it."

Lindsey mumbled something about difficult family members and a large bonfire under his breath. Willow glared at him.

"I'd be careful if I were you. Miss Edith tells Drusilla such interesting things..." Lindsey decided to shut up and bear it. Best not get his mate riled up.

"I have a few phone calls to make. You should get ready for work. Dru probably went back to bed." She slipped on a robe, and headed for her office/mystical space to make said calls. Frankly, Lindsey just didn't want to know. He found that for the first time in his life, his work was the less interesting part of his day.

****

Part 6

Lindsey flopped back onto couch with a heavy sigh. The day had been rough, and he just wanted to sit and veg for a couple of hours. He only managed to get about fifteen, however, and the door was suddenly kicked in. Lindsey whirled around, to see two men standing in the doorway. One of the two blondes was leaning on the barrier that kept them from entering the apartment. The other one, with hair so white it couldn't be natural, was leaning against the doorjamb, smirking at him. All his senses were screaming 'Vampire!' at him, so he assumed that these two were more of Willow's, no 'their' family. Lovely.

Drusilla ran to the two men, embracing the bleach blond first "Spikey!" She turned and gave a hug to the more natural looking blond. "Penn... I've missed you. Miss Edith has been whispering in my ear, telling me all about all the wonderfully naughty things you've been getting into. Can you take me dancing?"

"Pet..." Spike whined. Everyone ignored him, including Willow who walked into the room from her office. However, Dru soon unentangled herself from Penn and grabbed Spike's hands. They twirled around the room, dancing to the music that Dru was humming. Willow and Lindsey watched them with smiles on their faces, completely forgetting about Penn until he cleared his throat. Willow turned to look at him.

"Having fun, Penn?" Willow asked her oldest Childe with a smirk. He glared at her and gave a small snarl. He was leaning completely on the barrier that kept him out of her home. "Penn..." she said softly. "Come in." The barrier suddenly gone, Penn fell forward, and very narrowly managed to not end up sprawled face down on the carpet. Willow started laughing lightly. Penn just groaned.

"I knew better than to do that," he snarled quietly to himself.

"You did," Willow agreed. She moved forward and took Penn into her embrace. "It's so good to meet you, finally."

"Same here. I've heard a lot about you from William."

"Spike!" Spike snarled from across the room. "The name is Spike!" 

"Penn, be nice. I don't want you two fighting in my home. At least," she smirked, "not yet. Anyhow, let me introduce you to Lindsey, our third." She led Penn other to where Lindsey was sitting. He got up so that the two of them were face to face. 

"Lindsey, this is Penn, our oldest Childe. Penn, this is Lindsey McDonald." The two shook hands, and although it started like a normal handshake, Penn started to squeeze until it would be next to impossible for Lindsey not to have bruises. He gasped slightly in pain, and then Penn was suddenly thrown across the room by some invisible force. "Don't try to mess with him, Penn. That's not a way to get into my good graces," Willow snarled. She picked up Lindsey injured paw, and cast a quick healing spell, eliminating both the pain and the bruises, like she did after they sparred together.

"Deepest apologies, Sire's mate." Penn said formally. Willow grunted, but accepted the apology.

"Do that again, and I'll see what kind of bruises I can make on your skin." Penn's head did a little upward motion of respect. His Sire's female mate was strong. She had grown well into the position. The male… needed time to learn his place. He had no doubt that with time, he would become strong, as Willow was strong.

Spike and Dru stopped dancing and sat down on one of the couches. Soon, everyone was sitting or sprawling on the living room furniture, but no one said a word for several long but comfortable minutes.

"I have a question," Penn said. Willow raised an eyebrow, prodding him to continue. "Spike told me how Angel lost his soul two years ago, but he never told me how he got it back." Willow grimaced.

"Ms. Calendar. She was sent to Sunnydale to make sure Angel stayed all tortured and souled. When he didn't and lost his soul, she found a way to restore it to him several months later," Willow's voice broke a little as she remembered how she had lost her mate.

"So, is she dead?" 

"No," Willow told Penn, to the astonishment of both him and Lindsey.

"Why not?"

"It's Angelus she wronged, therefore Angelus should be the one to kill her." Willow suddenly grinned. "But that doesn't make it so that I can't hurt her. A month after she restored Angel's soul, she was beaten half to death and has been in a coma ever since."

The tension that had evolved in the room broke with that naughty statement, and several of them let out breaths they hadn't known they were holding.

"Do you think that you'll be able to find Nikolas?" Penn asked skeptically, trying to move away from talk of his Sire. Willow grimaced. Nikolas was the baby of the family, and the only Spike and Dru knew him, simply because they had been with Angelus the month he had been sired. Within two months of his new life, he'd vanished. The only thing they knew was that he wasn't dead when Angelus had re-emerged two years ago. 

"I don't know. He could be dead, for all we know."

"Little Brother isn't dead," Dru protested. "The stars would have told me, like they told me when Zacky got killed by that nasty Slayer. He's with his animals, which taste so sweet…" The others blinked.

"He feeds off animals?" Penn asked, slightly disgusted.

"No one else, no one else…" Dru chanted softly.

"No humans where he lives, pet?" 

"No one else," Dru said again, only this time it definitely sounded like she was agreeing with him.

"Nikolas was always a little different. Not interested in the hunt, or the kill. He loved animals, and music and art. He hadn't really changed much from the human he had been. It was very strange. Angelus was getting tired of Nikolas being squeamish, as he called it, and was going to implement some rather heavy handed ideas for dealing with that when Nikolas just disappeared one night. No one has heard from him since. That was about a 110 years ago now." Spike looked pensive. 

"None of Angelus' Childer are like normal vampires, are they?" Lindsey asked softly. He got pinned by two rather angry stares from the male vampires. He automatically raised his hands in the 'I'm harmless' position. "I'm just calling it as I see it. Spike and Dru, you two have loved each other for over a century. Have you ever heard of another vampire that can claim that? Penn, you often take human lovers for a few years, and then simply leave before the fact that you're not aging becomes apparent. Marinda does something very similar to that. Zackarias was well known for his habit of not killing the people he fed from. And Nikolas… He doesn't feed from humans at all…" Penn stared angrily at the ground. He didn't know what to say. After all, everything Lindsey had said was true.

"How do you know so much about us?" Spike asked angrily.

"Partly from Willow," he said carefully. "She's spoken a lot about her family. And I've learned some from the research I did on Angel, after he started to be a problem for W&H."

"Regardless of how he knows that information, we need to find Marinda and Nikolas. I'm counting on you two boys to find them for me." Willow gives them her best 'I'm trusting you to do this for me' look. Both male vampires squirmed a bit.

"Consider it done, Red," Spike said. He rose after he'd given Dru a kiss. Penn rose right after him.

"We won't let you down, Sire's mate," he said formally, and turned to glare at Spike. The glaring contest continued until Willow cleared her throat, and the two looked away from each other.

"Play nice, boys," she reminded them, as they left to find the last of their sibling.

"We will, Red," Spike said somewhat sullenly, while Penn just nodded his head, and they left the apartment.

Willow looked at Lindsey with a smile on her face.

"Never a dull moment?" Lindsey asked softly.

"Nope," Willow said as her grin widened. "And just wait until the family is completely assembled, with the Huntress, the Slayer, and the Shaper. Then things will get really interesting. Especially considering the bonding…"

"Bonding?" Lindsey asked, confused yet again.

"The spell. I figured out why it called for all of that blood. It's also a bonding spell, to make the entire family strong. Once that's been cast, watch out." Willow smirked.

"We're going to need a larger apartment," Lindsey commented.

"I've already bought all the apartments on this floor, along with the ones on the next, and gotten permission from the apartment board for the construction of stairs and tearing out some walls and adding new doors. We'll have plenty of room." Lindsey just shook his head in amazement.

"You think of everything," he said, and gave Willow a kiss.

"I do try," she said with a giggle. 

****

Part 7

The next day, after another long day at the office, he was once again sprawled on the living room couch, when he heard the front door open. Considering that Willow and Dru were in her office working on a spell, he figured that they were about to have another unscheduled visit. Lovely. He turned around to see a young woman of about Willow's age examining his living room.

"Red is really moving up in the world, ain't she?" she said, as she moved to stare at Lindsey. "And you must be the new toy she was talking about. Not bad," she said as she examined him from head to toe, making him feel like a thing that was used, and not a person. 

"Faith!" Willow shouted in delight, as she threw herself into Faith waiting arms.

"It's good to see you, Red," Faith said enthusiastically. "And I like the new boy toy…" 

"Hey, that's my mate you're talking about," she told Faith sternly. The unworded request of an apology passed between them. Faith shuffled her feet a little bit.

"Sorry, Studly. No hard feelings, right?" Lindsey blinked, then sighed.

"No hard feelings, Faith." 

"Then we're five by five." She turned to Willow. "So, when the mojo happening? I came as soon as I could."

"It could be a while. We're having some troubles find Marinda and Nikolas," Willow said softly.

"And they would be…?"

"Marinda is Angelus' third Childe, while Nikolas is the youngest. Marinda *might* be somewhere in China, but that's the most we know right now," Willow said sounding disappointed.

"Then we get more time to play!" Faith told Willow enthusiastically. 

"Why do I get a bad feeling about that?" Lindsey asked.

"Because you'd be right, Studly," Faith said impishly. "You and I are going clubbing. Tonight."

Willow blinked, but smiled nonetheless. "Faith, the steamroller," she said teasingly. "Do I at least get a chance to change?" Faith nodded, as she turned to stare at Lindsey again. As soon as Willow had left the room, she sauntered over to where Lindsey was still sprawled on the couch, and pulled him to his feet by his collar.

"If you ever, and I do mean *ever* hurt her, I will personally flay you alive, then break every bone in your body until you're screaming for mercy. Got it?" Lindsey nodded enthusiastically. Faith dropped him onto the floor, and then moved over to the door, where she leaned against the frame, looking at her nails with disinterest. Willow came out of their bedroom a few minutes later, wearing a pair of leather pants and a nice blue top that contrasted well with her hair. She looked at Lindsey where he was still sprawled on the floor, not having the energy to move. She helped him up onto the couch, and then turned to look at Faith, who was purposely avoiding her gaze.

"Faith, there's no need to be so protective of me. I can take care of myself, remember?" she said lightly, knowing why Faith had done was she had done.

"You may be strong magically and physically, but that don't protect your heart," she said simply and emotionlessly. "Now come on, we got some clubbing to do." Willow let Faith lead her out of the apartment, as she tossed a farewell to her now sleeping mate.

We'll be the death of him yet, Willow thought with amusement, before she let herself loose to the music of a club Faith had picked, and let all of her worries melt away. 

*****

Lindsey came into the apartment and flopped onto the couch. He blinked a few times, and considered moving, since the last two times he'd done this, his vegging had been rudely interrupted. However, the chance of that happening three times in a row had to be fairly small, so he allowed himself to sink into the couch. Fifteen minutes later, however, there was a knock on the door, and Lindsey groaned. No, he decided. It was just his imagination. But two minutes later, the door opened, and a blonde-haired woman and a large brown-haired man stepped into the apartment. Lindsey dropped his head into his hands. This just couldn't be happening to him. He curled into a ball and proceeded to ignore them.

"Did we break him?" asked a somewhat confused female voice.

"How could we have broken him, we just got here. Maybe he came broken," suggested a male voice.

"Now, that wasn't very nice," Willow said. "Unfortunately for Lindsey, yesterday Faith dropped in at just this time, and then the day before that, Spike and Penn did the exact same thing."

"Poor guy," said the female. "Well, let me assure you, Lindsey that he and I are far nicer than those vampires or that particular Slayer would be." Lindsey stood up, feeling a little sheepish for his childish actions. "I'm Amy, the Huntress that Willow probably mentioned to you." Lindsey shook her hand politely, already liking this woman. "I'm also a witch," she said conspiratorially. Well, that explained the power he felt from her, now that he was paying attention. He turned to be introduced to the male, to find he and Willow were in a very enthusiastic embrace. Lindsey growled under his breath. Willow turned, but remained in the man's arms.

"Lindsey! That's not very nice. Now come here, I want to introduce you to a very good friend of mine." Lindsey went over to her all right, but yanked her out of the man's embrace and into his own, glaring at him all the while. Willow sighed. "Men," she muttered under her breath. "Lindsey, this is an old friend of mine, and the Shaper I mentioned to you. Claw, this is Lindsey, mine and Angelus' third."

"Am I going to get a real name for this bloke?"

Willow turned around and smiled mischievously at him. "You've been spending too much time thinking like Spike."

"Graham Miller," the man offered, as he held out his hand. Lindsey took it, and they shook hands. Suddenly, he stopped disliking him so much. There was something about him… He examined him closely, noticing the strange weave of the neck to toe black clothing and the unusual black leather boots.

"Shapeshifting blacks," Graham said suddenly. Lindsey blinked in confusion. "The clothes, they're called shapeshifting blacks. Made of the pelts and hides of dead shapers. So, when I change, they shape with me, instead of me destroying my clothes when I shift and ending up naked when I shift back." Lindsey blinked again.

"That must come in handy."

"It does," Graham replied, as he moved over to put his arms around Amy.

"You two," he started to guess, but was cut off.

"Are involved?" Amy finished lightly. "So we are." She turned to Willow. "So, when does this spell go down?"

"We still need Marinda and Nikolas, who we have no clue of their whereabouts." 

"We could try a locator spell…" Amy suggested, and Willow's face lit up. 

"Perfect!" She grabbed Amy's arm, and hauled her off into her office. "Let's get started."

Graham laughed. "It's so nice to see her happy again. I didn't think anything could cheer her up after she lost Angelus."

"You don't seem the type to be willing to let a homicidal vampire back on the loose…" Lindsey started somewhat awkwardly.

"Normally, I wouldn't. But I'd do anything for Willow, just like Amy would, or Faith. And if a few deaths results because of the fact that Willow's happiness needs a vampire who kills people, then so be it." The two looked at each other, complete understanding each other. Lindsey knew that Graham would become a very close friend, and he was glad for it. Now, if only Marinda and Nikolas would be so nice.

****

Part 8

Lindsey entered the apartment, tired from his day at work. His eyes automatically focussed on the couch, but there was no way he was sitting there again anytime soon. Not after what happened last week. It could prove to be very disastrous for his mental health. So, he immediately headed for his office, where he dumped his briefcase, before he went in search for his mate. He found her watching a heated discussion that was occurring between Amy and Faith. Willow smiled when she saw him, and rose to give him a hug. She then took his hand and led him from the room, and into one of the newly renovated rooms that the expansion had created. All of the construction was complete, all that was needed now was some paint and furniture.

Willow sat down on the floor, and Lindsey copied her a moment later. It had been a long time since he'd sat on the floor.

"The family is wearing at you, isn't it?" she asked with sympathy in her voice. "Let's just forget about them for a few hours, 'k?" Lindsey nodded, which made Willow bounce. "Great! Have you been practicing that whirlwind spell I showed you?" The abrupt change of topics was something that Lindsey was starting to get used to.

"I've tried. But whenever I think I have the thing under control, it either dissipates or it runs out of control all over the room." He sighed as Willow frowned thoughtfully.

"You're using the wrong mindset. The problem is that you believe that you can't do it, so when you see that it starting to work, you release the mindhold on it, and it goes out of control. Here, let me show you." She took his hands, and established a mindlink with him, so that he could see how she was working the spell. The practiced several spells in succession for several hours, until their magic muscles were exhausted. 

"That was fun," Willow told him sleepily. "We haven't been taking enough time to be together since the family descended. But once the other rooms are painted and furnished, we won't be tripping over each other as much. I will miss you, though."

Lindsey blinked. That last sentence didn't make any sense. "Miss me, Willow? I'm not going anywhere." Willow's tensed slightly in his arms as she blushed.

"After we get Angelus back, you're going to need time to bond to him, like I bonded to you and I bonded to him. And for that to happen properly, I need to be elsewhere. Faith, Amy, Graham and I were going to take the time to go on vacation somewhere in Europe." 

Lindsey's arms tightened around Willow. "You can't leave. You can't," he said, trying to control the desperation in his voice. He didn't think he could live without Willow anymore. Willow turned in his arms so that she could hug him properly.

"Shhh… Lindsey. It's only for a week, and then, with hope, we'll never be separated again." Lindsey wasn't looking much happier, but Willow had that look on her face she called her 'resolve' face, and he knew he wouldn't be able to talk her out of leaving him alone for a week. "Once Angelus is here, you'll understand. But until then," she looked at him with mischief dancing in her eyes. "Why don't be go bug that pesky soul that's currently using our mate's body?" 

"Sounds like fun," he told her, as he helped her onto her feet. Angel had been particularly annoying lately, and it would be great fun to rub his relationship with Willow in Angel's face.

"Let's let Faith tag along. I *know* she's been wanting to annoy Wussy for a while now." Willow sent him a naughty grin.

"Perfect," he agreed. They collected Faith, who was jumping for joy at the thought of bugging her old Watcher. This was certainly going to be one hell of a reunion. 

*****

Angel was reading a book beside Wesley as they researched the upcoming evil they would confront, while Cordelia checked out the 'Demons, Demons, Demons' online database, when the door was flung open rather violently. The glass in the door wavered, but luckily didn't shatter, as Faith abruptly entered the office with her classic flair. She threw herself into a chair near Cordelia's desk, and twirled her boots onto it, making Cordelia screech. Faith ignored her.

"Hey, Wussy, what's the what?" she asked with a smirk. 

Wesley blinked, very surprised to see his Slayer here, especially after she'd lost him not two days after they left Sunnydale after the Mayor's Ascension was halted. 

"Faith," Cordelia said snappishly, as she shoved Faith's feet off her desk. "If it isn't the little rogue Slayer." 

"Actually, Cordelia," the three in the office turned to look at the newcomer, "that would be Buffy. Faith here would actually be the good Slayer." Willow smirked.

"As if."

"Actually, Cordelia," Wesley said, sounding very uncomfortable. "Technically, she's right." Cordelia blinked, and then huffed.

"Whatever."

"It's so good to see you again, Angel," Willow said as she sat on the corner of the desk right in front of him. He was looking distinctly uncomfortable. Faith stood up to get a better view of the action about to unfold. "I'd missed seeing you… But not that pesky soul of yours, of course. I have not use of that, as you well know." She moved in closer towards him, into his personal space. "Tell me Angel… how have you been? Have you been feeling at all… homicidal lately? After all, those recent deaths… They made me think of you…" she cooed into his ear. Angel tensed. It was so hard for him to be so close to his mate, and yet so far. The demon in him was screaming for his release, so he could hold and love his mate. Angel stood strong against it. He would not lose control.

"It's good to see you again, Willow," he managed to get out. "Been taking care of yourself?"

Willow smirked. He'd walked right into that one. "Of course. But I've had a little help."

"Right, like little-miss-psycho could take care of anyone," Cordelia said in her 'pshaw' voice.

"Actually, Ms. Chase, I do believe she was talking about me," Lindsey said as he entered the office. 

The three stood up as he entered the office, while Faith smirked as she leaned against a wall. Willow sauntered over to her mate, and gave him a deep kiss. Even before she'd touched him, Angel began a deep growling. He was enraged that his mate would touch another.

When the two finally came up for air, Willow turned to look back at her once-mate. "Don't get all growly with me, mister. You aren't my mate, so I can do as I please! You have no rights in regards to me, only Angelus does." A brief flash of pain could be seen in Willow's eyes before she controlled herself and put her sarcastic mask back on.

"So, Wussy, you been getting beat up recently?" Faith asked the former Watcher, brushing a finger over his bruised lip. Wesley jerked backwards, but Faith kept advancing on him until he was backed up against a wall. "Poor Wussy, can't ever get a break, eh?"

"Faith," Willow called out. "It's time to go." She looked at Angel. "It'll be so nice when that pesky soul isn't there anymore. Lindsey is quite anxious to meet the real you," she said with a smirk.

"You should remember to keep your guard up, Wussy. Then maybe next time you won't get so hurt. Later, Watcher-dude." Faith lightly slapped Wesley's face with her palm before exiting the office, Willow and Lindsey following her at a more sedate pace.

"Pesky soul isn't there?" Cordelia asked. "She's gonna bring back psycho Angelus?" Angel gave Cordelia a hard look, which she ignored.

"We'll have to start researching immediately to stop whatever plan she may have." Angel nodded half-hearted as he leafed through the book Wesley gave him. However, a part of him, and not just the demon part of him, relished the idea of being free of his soul again. For then, he could be with his mate, his *mates*, and there was nothing that Angel wanted more.

****

Part 9

"Well, that was fun," Lindsey said, as he absently rubbed his right wrist. Willow had restored his hand to him, but he'd never forget that awful feeling when Angel had loped it off. But it was worth it, if it meant he could be with his mates, if his mate could have his sire. And it was pretty stupid of him to try and burn the scroll. He'd just never thought that Angel would permanently hurt him.

"How is Darla?" Willow asked. Lindsey blinked.

"How did you…"

Willow cut him off. "Know what you were thinking? Haven't you noticed the bond between us lets the odd thought through?"

"Actually, no, I hadn't. And Darla's improving, but she's still not cognizant of the world around her yet. I suppose that centuries in hell take a while to adjust from."

"You would think it would be a good place to be for a demon."

"Maybe it was. We don't know why she's in that state, but she wasn't hurt when she arrived."

"Strange," Willow said absently as she got into the passenger seat of Lindsey's car. Faith was already in the back seat, bouncing with adrenaline she hadn't had a chance to burn off. "Someone's going to get beat up today," she told Lindsey in a loud whisper. Faith glared at her from the back seat. Willow just smiled serenely at her.

"Are you volunteering, Red?"

"Not a chance." Faith pouted. "Get one of the Childer to beat up. It'll be good practice for them." Faith grinned maniacally. 

"So, how goes the Childer hunt? Find Marinda yet?"

"No, unfortunately. Penn's been finding evidence that Marinda's been around various places for almost a week now, as he's trailed her throughout China. He hasn't actually found her yet, though. It's very frustrating. I'm just glad that the locator spell worked and led Spike right to Nikolas. I thought he was going to be the hardest to find."

"He was staying in one place. Marinda isn't."

"True. I'm glad he's getting along with the others. He's so different…" Willow smiled as she thought of their youngest Childe. "Does he even have a demon in him?" she wondered aloud what she'd been thinking since she'd met Nikolas.

"You'd never think it after meeting him, eh? Even Faith couldn't tell he was a vampire, after she already knew he was a vampire. Amazing."

"We are lucky," she told him, as he pulled into their parking space. Faith leaped out of the car, probably Spike bound, in hopes of beating the bleach blonde up. "Soon our mate will be with us, and we have such a family…"

"To each their own," Lindsey muttered under his breath. He smiled sheepishly when Willow glared at him. She wasn't supposed to hear that.

"I suppose that since you don't have a full bond into the family it would make it harder for me. As a direct mate, I get almost all the same feelings for his Childer as he does. But you're currently only his mate through me, and as a result, you get almost none of familial bonds. Once you bond to Angelus, though, you'll understand. I promise."

The two stepped into the elevator to go up to their floor. Things were certainly going to be interesting in the near future. As soon as Marinda arrived, which should be soon, they would have Angelus back. And there was nothing that either of them wanted more.

*****

Willow and Lindsey entered the apartment, and then blinked at the sight before them. Graham and Amy were playing Trivia Pursuit with Spike and Nikolas. They looked at each other, and shared a laugh. You'd never think that vampires would play Trivia Pursuit, much less a vampire like Spike who was very much into the blood and guts type of thing. But, they should have known better.

"So, who's winning?"

"We are," Spike said gloatingly. It seemed to be vampires against Huntress and Shaper. 

"But barely," Amy retorted. Willow looked at the board. It looked to be a very close game. "We haven't had a challenge like this in a long time," Amy said ruefully. "How do you know some of this stuff?" she asked Spike.

"Probably being he had an ideaic and photography memory," Willow said helpfully, while Amy and Graham looked at each other.

"Figures," they said in unison.

Willow and Lindsey smiled, as they moved into their bedroom for a little privacy. Of course, her cell phone chose that moment to ring. She groaned, and answered it.

"What?" she asked hotly. She heard a chuckled on the other end, as well as some little static.

"Did I interrupt, Sire's mate?" Penn asked formally.

Willow growled at him. "You'd better have called to let me know you found Marinda," she told him, the threat of severe punishment if he hadn't quite clear in her voice.

"And I have. Marinda and I should be in LA around midnight tomorrow."

Willow smiled. "Excellent. Fill Marinda in on anything she needs to know." She turned off the cell, and turned to Lindsey. "Everybody is going to be gathered by tomorrow night…" she told him, the excitement in her voice almost set the air alight. She moved over to her calendar, and took a long look at it. "In four days, there's a minor planetary alignment. It will be the perfect time to cast the spell. It doesn't require it, but it will help strengthen it. Will Darla be able to get away from them by then, do you think?"

"I don't know. The only time I saw any kind of sanity in her eyes was when I spoke of Angelus."

"Buffy told me how Angel was after he returned from hell. He'd just needed a trigger to help him re-establish himself in this plane of existence. Hopefully, Angelus can give Darla that trigger. I want her to be part of the spell. It'll help make it stronger, and hopefully make Darla stronger as well."

"I'll see what I can do," Lindsey promised.

"Great!" Willow said enthusiastically, as she threw herself into his arms and gave him a kiss. All thoughts of Darla were put aside, as they concentrated on each other.

****

Part 10

"It's just not a good idea, Willow. They'll know the instant…" he got cut off by a retort from Willow.

"They won't. His natural immunity plus the spell I can cast on him will make it very safe."

"They'll kill him if they even think he's a vampire. I'm trying to keep him alive, Willow."

"And I'm trying to restore my mate's Sire to her former glory. Seeing one of Angelus's Childer will be very good for her. Take Nikolas with you." Lindsey sighed, as he realized he wouldn't win this fight.

"We'd have to go in through the main doors…"

"I already have a spell that will augment Nikolas's natural immunity to sunlight so that he won't be bothered by it at all."

Lindsey shook his head. "I just hope this doesn't get him killed. I like him," he ended quietly.

"See, they are growing on you." Nikolas took this moment to come out of his bedroom. He was wearing a suit, with a badge that looked like his work badge, and holding a briefcase. Lindsey was stunned at the difference. Nikolas usually looked like fragile teenager in need of constant protection. Now, he looked every inch the professional. The change was so dramatic that Lindsey actually stopped breathing for a moment. Nikolas was gorgeous, no matter what he wore, and nothing could show that more than now. Willow brought him back to the here and now by coughing lightly, and he almost blushed when he realized that he'd been staring.

"Let's get going," he told Nikolas. He nodded, and after giving a respectful nod to Willow, exited their home behind Lindsey.

On the entire drive over, Lindsey told Nikolas all the things that he should and should not do, and that if they did discover he was a vampire, to get out as quickly as possible. Nikolas dutifully noted all information, repeating back what Lindsey said to assure him that he understood. By the time they arrived at W&H, Lindsey had started to sweat. He was worried that he would lose his youngest Childe, he realized.

"Everything will be fine, Sire's mate. I assure you." Lindsey looked at Nikolas's face, which for once, oozed confidence. He nodded back.

"Yeah," he agreed, as they entered the building. He wasn't able to calm down until they had reached the room that Darla was in now that she was no longer inside the box. She was crouching in a corner, looking like a scared animal. She looked up at Lindsey without recognition, but when her eyes turned to Nikolas, her eyes were no longer the blank stare that was usually what Darla gave to people. There was a touch of intelligence in her eyes, now.

"Darla, this is Nikolas, Angelus's youngest Childe." Darla's eyes lighted up even more at Angelus's name, as she stood and walked towards Nikolas at a slow pace. Nikolas, meanwhile, had dropped the briefcase and was loosening his tie. 

"It's an honor to finally meet you, GrandSire," he said formally, as he pulled the material of his shirt away from his neck. Darla immediately took advantage of the offer, and sunk her fangs into his neck. Nikolas stroked her hair in a comforting fashion as she drank. When she pulled away, the fog that was normally in her eyes was mostly gone.

"What's your name, GrandChilde?" she asked softly. Lindsey listened to the voice of his mate's Sire, astonished at how childlike it sounded.

"Nikolas, GrandSire," he told her.

"Nikolas," she purred, as if trying out the name on her tongue. "You can call me Darla." She blinked, as if she was trying to remember something. "Angelus…" she said sadly. 

"You'll come to my Sire's renewal ceremony, won't you?" Darla looked up at Nikolas with hopeful eyes.

"Renewal ceremony?"

"Willow, Angelus's other mate, will be restoring him to his former glory, sans soul, three nights from now."

"I will," she said quickly. She then looked around herself with a moue of disgust. "I want to leave here."

"We will, Grandsire." He pulled out a pendant from his pocket. "This will make you invisible to other people and the cameras. But we have to get moving." Darla nodded as she put the pendant on. Lindsey watched as she just vanished, but Nikolas took her hand and led her to the door.

"Vampires can still see her," Nikolas said softly, as they exited the room. Several harrowing minutes later, they were outside W&H, and got into Lindsey's car. The ride back to their home was made in silence, all of them caught up in their own thoughts. Darla removed the pendant, and gave it back to Nikolas, who pocketed it. When they arrived at the underground parking, they left the car, still in silence, and went up to their home. Lindsey invited Darla in, and was soon set upon by Angelus's gleeful Childer. Willow had to separate them as Darla was clearly still not well. She led her mate's Sire to the large bedroom she'd personally decorated for her.

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Darla. I hope you like the room," she said gently. Darla nodded, and went to crawl into bed. She was so tired.

Willow closed the door with a small sigh and a smile. Darla was healing. With luck, in a few weeks she'd be back to the Sire that Angelus had told her so much about. He'd been crushed that his souled-self had destroyed his Sire, and to get her back would be a very joyous occasion for him.

****

Part 11

Spike started to grin maniacally as she approached his souled Sire's place of office. They decided that Angel deserved a personal visit from each of his Childer before he lost that soul forever. Amy was also planning a visit, with Graham at her side. She had her own beefs with Angel that he didn't know about. They had all coordinated to ensure maximum damage, Penn and Marinda doing so by telephone. So, each of them had a specific day and time area to suitably punish their Sire for leaving them because of that damned soul. Penn wanted to be first, but since he was currently on an airplane bound for California at this very moment, he had gotten over-ruled. They did have a schedule to keep, after all.

Spike slipped into Angel's building, and placed himself in a spot so that he could see what was happening in the office, but it would be very unlikely that they would see him. He watched that perky cheerleader and the annoying former watcher do various tasks such as use the computer or reading a book. Researching, probably. But he couldn't see his Sire. He cast his othersense out, and located Angel in his apartment below the office. Perfect!

He casually strolled into the office, careful not to slam the door, as that would bring the Poof upstairs too quickly. He wanted a bit of fun with these two first.

"Well, lookie what we have here. An actress that can't act, and a Watcher that couldn't watch." He shook his head in mock disappointment. Cordelia screeched as she rose to her feet, and Wesley grabbed a cross and shoved it in his direction. Spike growled and hit Wesley's arm hand, making him drop the cross. Spike then kicked it out of reach, as he hemmed them into a corner. "It's a shame that Peaches can't afford better help." He gave them a roguish grin. Cordelia growled at him, making Spike laugh. "And you can't even do that right," he said drolly. "Let me show you how it's done, pet," he said conspiratorationally, and he growled, a low menacing thing that sounded like a very angry animal. Spike then grinned. This was too much fun! He heard sounds coming from the stairway. Ah, finally! His Poof of a Sire was finally going to join them.

"Hey Peaches! Long time!" He turned to look at his Sire, and had to keep his expression neutral. Angel's hair was slicked back, with water, not gel, and his clothes were sticking to his body in certain… very interesting places. Spike had probably caught him in the shower. But he certainly wasn't complaining. Not if it got him a view like that… 

"What do you want, Spike?" Angel growled out, sounding quite intimidating. Spike, however, was not impressed.

"What? I can't drop in wanting to see me Sire?" he asked, sounding wounded.

"No." 

Spike laughed. "That's me Sire, always telling me no." He snickered. "In fact, I seem to remember one time you kept saying no, which involved several cases of brandy, one of those hoity-toity English blokes, a horsewhip, and matches. I seem to remember you saying yes in there too, somewhere..." Angel just glared. "Oh, you don't remember that? Well, we were a little sloshed at the time, but I can remind you of the best parts. That would have been when that bloke..."

"Spike!" Angel snarled, cutting Spike off. Spike grinned. It was so easy some times.

"So you do remember? Oh, but those were the days." 

"Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to drop by, bid my final respects. After all, you aren't going to be here much longer." Spike flashed a knowing grin.

"You're in what little miss witch has planned?" Cordelia screeched. Spike winced.

"How do you put up with her? That voice is hell on vampire ears." He rubbed his ear as if in pain. Cordelia let out an exclamation of disgust.

"Vampires," she muttered. "Aren't you going to get rid of him?" she asked Angel.

"I'll go when I'm good and ready," Spike told her. 

"What's up with Willow. If you've touched her..." 

"You couldn't do a thing about it. I'm her Childe too, you know." Angel snarled again. Willow had often allowed Spike and/or Dru to join them during his time as Angelus. But as far as he knew, they had never been together without him there. And the fact that Spike might have touched Willow without his knowledge enraged him. He grabbed Spike by the collar and slammed him into a wall.

"Did you touch her?" he snarled into Spike's ear. Spike twitched inside Angel's punishing hold, as he hated being unable to move. 

"That's not my secret to tell. You'll just have to ask Willow when you see her again. Of course, that soul of yours probably won't be there by then." Spike snickered, and then managed to send an elbow crashing into Angel's gut, hard enough for Angel's hold on him to loosen enough for him to be able to get away. "I'll be seeing ya, mate!" he tossed over his shoulder as he left the office in a fast but not overly hurried rate. Angel looked after him with mixed emotions.

"Great! That's just great! Spike is helping little miss botching-spells-left-and-right to get rid of your soul?" Cordelia blinked, and thought about what she'd just said. "Well, it things go as the past dictates, then she'll botch this one too!" Cordelia announced quite proudly, as if she'd figured out a solution to world hunger. Angel barely cast an annoyed glance her way.

"Willow is a very accomplished witch with a lot of powerful spells behind her. She just played the incompetent witch so that Giles wouldn't figure out she was messing with black magic."

"Oh boy..." Wesley whispered. "Black magic?" Angel nodded. "This doesn't bode well." He played with his glasses as he thought. "We need to continue our research, and more strongly then ever." Angel nodded as he took the book that Wesley handed him. Once again they were looking for spells that could take his soul away. But he only looked half-heartedly. Spike's appearance here tonight had reminded of the good times he'd spend with his Childe, not only when they were killing and pillaging, but when they just talked, or shagged. And he couldn't help but miss that. But then he remembered the many killing sprees that Angelus had gone on, and paid full attention to the book in front of him. He might long for his days sans-soul with Willow and his family, but he couldn't forget his duty. His work towards redemption for all of Angelus's sins. As much as he might long for his old life back, he couldn't have it, plain and simple.

****

Part 12

Spike leaned back on the couch with a smirk on his face. He could tell that Penn wanted to smack it off of him, but last time he'd tried that he'd ended up flung against the wall with a warning of 'Not in the living room!' from Willow, so he probably wouldn't be doing that again soon. 

"Spike," Lindsey said warningly. Spike looked at the bloke with a smile. He was really learning things fast. Of course, that meant he couldn't pull his chain quite as much, but he couldn't get everything he wanted in his life, now could he?

"Spill!" Marinda hissed.

"Alright, alright, don't get huffy," Spike responded with a grin. "So, do you want me to start with the part where I annoyed those two humans he keeps as pets, or when he started snarling?"

"How about the part where he slammed you into a wall?" Amy suggested. Spike would have blushed if vampires were able to. He gave Amy a glare, and started his story.

"So I went in and bugged the humans while I waited for the Poof to show up. That cheerleader sure can squeal," he said with appreciation in his voice. "Anyhow, Angel came up a few minutes later. His hair was wet, as were some of his clothes. I think I caught him in the shower!" 

"You did," Willow confirmed slightly dreamily.

"Spying again, Willow?" Spike asked, figuring that's how Amy knew about that wall thing.

"Gotta get my kicks some way until Angelus is back in my bed." Everybody grinned.

"Anyhow, I mention how I just wanted to drop by to see my Sire, and he told me that that wasn't normal. Actually, the word he used was no, so figure out what I said yourself." Somebody snickered, but stopped when Spike glared at everyone in general. "So, after he said no, I got into this time where he'd said no repeatedly…" Spike got a dreamy look on his face. "I never looked at a red-headed bloke the same again…" He grinned. "Of course, he denied all knowledge of it… Until I started to give details. That when he started to snarl." Practically everyone was grinning by now. "That's when I mentioned my coming by to pay my last respects to him. Cordelia has quite the voice. Didn't think my ears were going to recover from that one." 

"She will so get it for calling me little miss witch. And little miss botching-spells-left-and-right. Maybe another spell induced blindness?"

"Sounds good to me, pet. Anyhow, after the cheerleader asks Angel to throw me out, and I say I'll leave when I'm good and ready, Angel mentions if I touched Red. He really walked into this one. Went into the whole Sire's Mate/Childe deal."

"That's when he pinned you against the wall," Amy said dryly, but with a broad smile. 

"That it was. After a few comments that really enraged him, I got loose and took off." Spike leaned back into the couch with a sigh. "And if that whole thing didn't do anything else, it reminded me how much I want to shag him." He turned his puppy eyes to Willow.

"Lindsey's going to need a week alone with him to cement the bond. And then the three of us are going to need two weeks alone to cement out tri-bond. You're just going to have to wait."

"Besides, Marinda, Nikolas, and I haven't been with him in over a century. You got him to yourself and Dru during those six months he was back." Spike scowled at Penn. 

"You're no bloody fun." Spike pouted for a few moments, but then brightened. "So, who gets to annoy the bloody Poof next?"

"Amy and I are going tomorrow afternoon. I want to meet the man who made Willow so sad," Graham grimaced.

"I'll go then too," Penn said with a smirk. "He certainly won't be expecting that." 

Amy smiled, and nodded. "Let's make him hurt." 

*****

Graham looked at the building that housed 'Angel Investigations'. The show was about to commence. He took a breath, as he thought to himself, Time to get into character. He put a slightly terrified but not wanting to show it look on his face, and made himself sweat the way only fear could make a person sweat. 

He walked with determination into the building, and then opened the door with the 'Angel Investigations' lettering on it. The two people in the office, a man and a woman, looked up at him. However, he knew that the man wasn't Angel. Another man came out of the inner office. Ah, so this was the infamous Angel. Graham took a deep breath for his audience, making it appear that he didn't know what to say.

"Can we help you?" the man with the glasses asked kindly.

"I… I need some help. I…" he looked down at the floor, swallowing heavily. "You're Angel, right?" he asked when he briefly glanced in Angel's direction. 

"Yes, I am."

"Can we talk privately? This is… difficult for me." The words were raspy, as if being spoken from a throat that had gone through a lot of bouts of crying.

"Sure," Angel said softly, as he motioned Graham into his office. Graham took a seat in front of Angel's desk, as Angel sat down in his chair.

"What's troubling you?"

"It's my girlfriend. She's… changed lately." Graham laughed sarcastically. "In more ways that one. So," he looked up at Angel with a strange look in his eye. "If I tell you my girlfriend is a witch, are you going to laugh me out of here?" 

"No." 

The laugh died. "Well, that's a first. You don't know how many people have done that. Well, a few months ago, I learned she was a witch. I was shocked at first, I mean for someone to say they're Wicca and use healing stones is one thing, but she can do so much more than that. But I could accept that she was a witch, and things were fine again. After all, what else could I do, right? I love her." Graham looked at Angel with a plea for understanding in his eyes.

"Something else has happened, though?" Angel asked carefully.

"Oh, yeah. For a while, things seemed almost normal again, but then Amy started to get violent. She'd yell at me over little things, one day she used a repulsion spell to throw me against a wall. I ended up breaking two ribs and bruising several others. It wasn't long after that that I learned she was involved with some local vampire family. That was just a week ago. She was so happy when she told me that, how we were going to be part of some great legacy. She wanted me to be a part of a threesome with her and her new vampire lover. She told me she'd been drinking some of his blood. I freaked, told her I didn't want to have anything to go with her." Graham stopped, as his voice started to shake. "I was afraid. She'd been getting more violent by the day." He looked down into his lap with shame. "I want Amy back, like she was, before this vampire messed with her mind."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I heard that you deal with… strange cases. That's why I came here after three others laughed me away. I was hoping you could deal with this vampire, get him out of Amy's life, so she can be herself again." Graham looked at Angel pleadingly.

"I can certainly try. Do you know the name of the vampire?" Angel asked, his voice slightly tight. Oh, how familiar this tale was. He'd forgotten the number of times he or one of his Childer had done this to humans.

Graham was about to reply, when a flash of light briefly illuminated the room. When the room returned to normal, a young woman was now standing beside Graham's chair. Angel heard Wesley try to open the door, drawn by the flash of light, but he was unable to open it.

"Amy…" Graham said softly. Angel stared at Amy in shock. This was Amy Madison, Willow best friend. 

"Graham," she asked lightly. "Why did you leave? I was getting ready for our night together. He was going to come, and it was going to be glorious." She turned and looked around herself with a frown. "Where are we?" She looked at Angel, and a look of recognition crossed her face, and then a look of hate. "Angel…" she hissed. "You hurt her. You hurt Willow…" she was practically snarling at him now. She hurled a fireball in his direction. Angel dodged out of the way, but the fireball disbursed before it would have hit Angel had he remained still.

"Willow didn't want me to hurt you… I don't know why. You deserve to hurt after what you did to her." She turned to Graham. "You went to him? To the one who hurt Willow? Well, it's obvious that you're going to need a little of Penn's discipline." Angel's eyes widened when Amy mentioned Penn's name, and widened further when Amy snapped her fingers, and Penn was suddenly in the room.

"Amy…" he purred. "This is Graham?" he asked. Amy nodded, and Graham shrank away from him. Penn chuckled. "Oh, it's going to be fun breaking you." Amy just smiled slightly blankly. Penn turned to look at the other occupant of the room.

"Angelus? What are you doing here?" he asked his Sire with a large smile.

"Graham came to him to try to get rid of you," Amy spat. Penn looked at his Sire in surprise.

"You're helping food, now? What the hell's wrong with you? You should have drained him the moment you saw him, not try and help him get away from a fellow vampire," Penn snarled at his Sire. Angel was shell-shocked at the events that had passed.

"Amy," Penn said sweetly. "Let's go home, we have a lover to punish." Amy nodded, and snapped her fingers. The three of them were gone in a flash of light. Angel sank into his chair weakly, as Wesley and Cordelia finally managed to get into the room.

"Angel, what happened?" Wesley asked. Angel shakily told them what had happened, and then asked to be left alone. As soon as the door closed, his elbows hit the desk as they cradled his head. What a mess he'd made of so many lives… He just didn't know what to do anymore.

****

Part 13

The three of them re-materialized in the family apartment. For a moment they just looked at each other, but then they started to laugh. It had gone better that they ever could have hoped. Graham excused himself to go take a shower, while various members of the family drifted slowly into the room. They all wanted to hear how things had gone with Angel. Soon, everyone had settled in, and Graham returned from his shower, with a towel in his hands that he rubbed absently against his hair. He grinned at the other people in the room.

"So, time to get this party started?" 

"Hell yes!" Spike ordered loudly, making several of the others chuckle. Spike has known for his lack of patience.

Graham continued to grin. "Well, I went into Angel's office, and played the frightened young man. Angel got all sympathetic on me, and we went into his office, and I proceeded to twirl that story I told you about earlier. I carefully watched his face throughout that, and it just fell more and more as I continued to talk." Graham smirked. "However, when Amy flashed into existence in the office, his jaw dropped. It was quite amusing. He was still handling himself fairly well despite all we'd thrown at him, until Penn showed up. Then he just lost it. He lost all ability to speak, and was looking at all of us with a haunted expression in his eyes."

"I especially liked when I threw that fireball at him…" Everyone looked at Amy with surprise and a touch of shock. "Oh, don't worry. Even if he hadn't dodged, I dispelled it before it would have hit him. But the look on his face, when I went on about how he'd hurt Willow… Classic. And he SO deserved it," Amy's voice held a venom now. "I only wish I could have hurt him more."

"It's time for the others now, Amy," Willow told her. "So, Dru, your turn tonight?" She gave her Childe a warm smile.

"Yes, Mummy. Daddy will hurt for leaving us." Several people smiled, and things were turned away from talk of Angel. Some of them left to do get stuff done, while others stuck up conversations with one or two other people. All in all, it was an average time for the family. Willow smiled. Her life had changed dramatically when Angelus had entered it, but despite everything, she couldn't regret a moment of it. After all, if she had never become Angelus's mate, she never would have become part of this wonderful family.

*****

Dru laughed softly as she skipped down a path in the deserted park. He would be coming soon. She could feel it in her bones. But until then… Her mind heard the music that the stars were singing, and she twirled around, dancing for them. A few minutes later, she turned to see Angel standing in the shadows of one of the many trees in the park, staring at her. Dru smiled.

"Angel…" she whispered, as she danced towards him. "Hello, Angel." She took his hands into hers, and started to dance with him. Angel, started, let her lead him into the dance, and they moved together for several minutes. "I came to say goodbye," she told him absently as they continued to dance. Angel was startled, and almost tripped over his own feet. He let go of Dru's hands, and looked at her with confusion.

"Goodbye?" 

"Oh yes… It's polite to say goodbye to someone you'll never see again." She nodded and smiled to herself. "The stars told me where I could wait for you, so I could say goodbye." Dru moved forward, and gave Angel a hug. "Soon you'll be gone, and Daddy will be back."

"How?" Angel asked, as he pulled back from Dru so that he could see her eyes. "How is your Daddy coming back?" he asked carefully. Dru looked at him with confused eyes, as if the answer to that was obvious, and the question was a silly one.

"Mummy's bringing my Daddy back, of course. Mummy always makes things right again. That's what Mummys do. My old Mummy did too." She frowned briefly. "Or she did before you killed her. But alive Mummy's always make things right." Dru smiled again. "Everyone is so happy that Daddy's coming back," Dru smiled dreamily, and looked at the stars overhead. "The stars have been singing to be, telling me how everything will be right again once Daddy's here again and you're gone. And about all the fun that we'll all have."

"Who's everyone, Dru?"

"Me and Spikey and Mummy. Oh, and Papa, too." Dru smiled again, and then cocked her head. 

"The stars tell me such interesting things… But now… they're telling me that Miss Edith has something important to tell me. Something about Daddy…" She looked at Angel, her eyes the most lucid Angel had seen since before he'd turned her. "Goodbye, Angel. It was… interesting to know you." Her eyes started to cloud somewhat again, she waltzed away, presumably to go to her home. 

Angel tried to follow her, but he got distracted by a call for help that came from an alley after they'd the park, and by the time he'd moved back towards where Drusilla had been, she was gone. He went back into the alley, and passed the dead body of the girl who had screamed for help. Spike was long gone, however. This had obviously been a tactic to distract him and allow Dru to return to their home without Angel being able to follow her.

Angel shook his head, trying to clear it, and continued on his patrol route. He just didn't know what else to do.

****

Part 14

Marinda looked at the building in which Father lived and worked out of. She snorted delicately. How like him to associate with the lower class like that. She smoothed the fabric of her skirt, as she stepped out of her Lexus LS 400, and walked over and into to the building. She looked around herself with disdain, as she headed for the door that proclaimed 'Angel Investigations'. She opened the door, and entered the office imperiously. A woman looked up from her computer, and looked at her with envy.

"Armani…" she heard her whisper. Of course her suit was Armini, she thought to herself. What else could it be?

"Would this be the office that Angel works from?" she asked. She took a seat, her legs primly crossed.

"Yeah," the woman said, as she approached her. "I'm Cordelia Chase," she said, as she offered her hand. Marinda shook it briefly, with extremely politely.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Chase. Would Angel be available so I may speak with him?"

"Of course, I'll go get him." Ms. Chase gave her a smile, and headed towards a staircase then went downstairs. Marinda looked at the office closer now that she was unobserved. The room was clean and organized, although it could use some re-decoration. And that print would just have to go. She turned her attention away from the room to the man who was coming up the stairs. She stood up, and smiled at Angel when he stopped dead the moment he saw her.

"Hello, Father," she said as she performed a brief curtsy. 

"Marinda," Angel said weakly, before almost collapsing into a chair. Marinda frowned at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Father, really! Where are your manners? It's not like you to be so impolite. You haven't even introduced me to your assistant," Marinda said reprovingly. 

"Wesley, this is my third Childe, Marinda. Mare, this is Wesley Wyndham-Pryce." 

"I am honored to meet you, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce. But Father, it wasn't at all seemly for you to call me by that garish nick-name in front of company. May I sit?"

Angel nodded absently, and Marinda sat with the dignity of a Queen. "Marinda, what are you doing here?"

"I was in town. Penn came to see me in China, and told me about your coming-out party. I could hardly refuse the invitation. And I certainly couldn't be in the city without presenting myself to you. I would be at the height of impropriety." Marinda looked offended that Angel would even think such a thing. "However, after hearing about some of your resent go abouts, I'm not surprised you lost your manners. Living in an office building? Or in an apartment that was in a warehouse?" Marinda snorted. "Not at all seemly."

Angel just sighed and closed his eyes, cradling his head in his hands. "Father! One must always be polite and at our best when in mixed company! You know that." Marinda sounded quite befuddled.

"Well, I suppose that it would be best that I leave you to your men's work. Ms. Chase, Mr. Wyndham-Pryce, a delight to meet you. Father, until the party." She rose from her chair as she said her adieus, and left the office, leaving three very stunned people.

"She was a vampire?" Cordelia asked with disbelief.

"Yeah," was all that Angel said.

"I didn't know that vampires could dress so well. Why don't you dress that well?" Cordelia asked.

Angel just looked at his secretary with annoyance, and went into his office. "Why me?" he whispered quietly to himself, as he sank into his chair. "Why me?"

*****

Angel plastered a smile on his face as he listened to Cordelia whine about the fact that she had no money, and that she deserved a major raise after 'Miss Money', as she called Marinda, had come in last night. After about two minutes, he'd tuned her out. That had been over an hour ago. Frankly, at this point, he'd welcome just about anything to get himself out of this predicament.

He heard the outer door of the office open, and wondered if he'd been too broad with his plea for mercy from Cordelia's flapping tongue. The last few visitors had been quite hard on him. First Spike, then that whole Graham/Amy/Penn thing, and then Marinda walking into his office like she owned the place. What was he in for now? He got his answer a second later, when he saw the face of his newest visitor, and he froze. It couldn't be Nikolas. It just wasn't possible.

"Tadig!" the 'boy' said with excitement, and threw himself into Angel's arms, never mind that he was sitting down in a chair, and Nikolas' enthusiasm made both of them end up on the floor. Angel barely avoided a strip of sunlight, but he noticed that Nikolas didn't even try to… And it didn't seem to bother him at all to have the sun shining right onto his face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to comprehend the fact that Nikolas was here. That this wasn't another dream.

"I had to come and see you. It's been so long. I'm sorry about running away. I really am," Nikolas gave Angel his best puppy-dog eyes look. "Forgive me? I didn't want to go, I just felt I had no other choice…"

"Always," Angel said softly. "I'll always forgive you." A glowing smile graced Nikolas' face. Cordelia stomped her foot on the floor, getting mad for being ignored. Angel looked at her, and then back to Nikolas.

"Hello," Nikolas said slowly, and offered her his hand. "I'm Nikolas."

"Cordelia," she answered with a smile, and placed her hand in his. To her surprise, he raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.

"It's a pleasure, Cordelia," he drawled as he released her hand. Cordelia smiled.

"So, how long have you known my Tadig?" he asked casually, as he sat in one of the chairs. He sent Angel a warm smile, as he listened to Cordelia talk. 

"A few years. How about you?"

"Since I was a boy," Nikolas replied, and gave her a seductive smile.

"How long have you been linked to those silly Powers?"

"What?" Cordelia asked, pretending to not understand.

"The Power That Be? How long have you been their tool?" 

Cordelia huffed in rage. "I am *NO* one's tool! Least of all to the PTB!"

"Oh, really," he drawled, as he leaned back in his chair. "Is that why you get mind-cracking visions at the worst possible times?" The PTB decided that this was one worst possible time, and Cordelia cried out as a vision assailed her. Nikolas smirked.

"I rest my case." He absently looked at his watch. "Oh my, I hadn't realized it was so late! We have to go, Tadig!" he said as he grabbed Angel's arm and pulled him out of the office.

Several minutes later, Wesley helped Cordelia up into a chair.

"Cordelia? What did you see?"

"Angelus. Tonight. The ritual to bring back Angelus is tonight. All the Childer were there, and Nikolas, Willow, Graham, Amy, Lindsey, Faith and… a blonde haired woman I didn't recognize. And it's happening," she looked at her watch and her eyes widened. "Ten minutes from now!"

"Oh dear. You have an address?" Cordelia nodded, and the two of them ran out of the office, hoping to be able to stop the ritual in time.

****

Part 15

"Where are we going?" he asked, as Nikolas led him out of the office the back way, into a car with heavily tinted windows.

"It's time," Nikolas said, suddenly very solemn, as he got into the driver's seat. There was a few moments of silence before he spoke again. "You know that, don't you? The part that is my Sire knows that very well." Angel swallowed, as he thought about what Nikolas had said. Angelus was rattling around in his cage quite loudly. Tonight was the night, he realized. Tonight Angel would be no more, and Angelus would be free once more. Forever, this time. But he couldn't be very sad for it. True, Angelus would kill, but he would be with his mates, with his family. With Nikolas, the young vampire he'd never really gotten a chance to know well enough. With Marinda, the ever proper Princess of the family. With Spike, and Penn, and Dru. No, he couldn't even think of the possibility of not being with them. Not anymore. He was meant to be with them.

The sun had set by the time they reached the warehouse that Nikolas stopped the car beside. Nikolas said something quietly in his native tongue, and Angel realized that it was the traditional rite to guide a soul to the otherworld. Angel was touched by his Childe's capacity for giving. Nikolas got out of the car, and Angel followed him. They went inside, and Angel looked at the group. Willow and Lindsey, their hands clasped together, with Faith beside them, like a protective Angel. Penn was standing near Amy and Graham, and Angel could see now that Graham was far from the frightened young man he'd played in his office two days ago. Dru was leaning against Spike, while Marinda glared at them in that very regal way that only she could get away with. The family was all here.

A circle was drawn on the floor, with a small hole in it. Willow motioned for him to enter it, which he did, and Willow closed the circle with the chalk in her hand. She then picked up a bowl with the herbs she had already crushed together in it.

The ritual was simple, and had no words to it. Willow handed a dagger to Lindsey, who took it and made a cut on his hand. He placed his fist over the bowl until quite a few large drops had landed in it, and then pulled his hand back. He handed the knife to Penn, who was standing beside him, and he repeated the same procedure, letting his blood drop into the bowl Willow was holding. She went around the entire circle, until she returned to the beginning where Lindsey stood. Angel wondered what had taken her so long. The circle wasn't that big. She gave Angel the bowl, and cut her hand, letting the last of the blood into the bowl. The blood mixture began to glow as the blood intermingled. He gave Willow a solemn nod, and as all of them watched, he drank the entire contents of the bowl. When he'd drained it, he simply let the bowl drop from his hands. He vaguely heard it clatter to the ground, but he didn't pay it much attention. The demon ripped out of its cage, and roared! in triumph. It his mindscape, it came to stand in front of his soul. He expected it to throw him out, so that he could never return again, instead of caging him like it had last time. However, instead, it offered him a clawed hand. Puzzled, he took hold of it, so that their forearms were touching. The demon then pulled him into a hug. Then all he knew was blackness.

*****

Wesley kept driving, as he tried to find the warehouse that Cordelia had seen in her vision.

"There it is!" she said suddenly, and Wesley stopped beside the warehouse. They rushed inside, and found just empty space. Wesley saw something on the floor, and approached it. There was a rubbed out circle of chalk, which was probably where the ritual had occurred, and a note. Wesley picked it up, read it, and handed it to Cordelia.

"We're too late," Wesley said solemnly. 

"Looks like little miss botching-spells-left-and-right didn't botch this one, huh Queen C? Until next time." Cordelia wadded the note she had just read aloud in her fist, and threw it towards the far wall in frustration. Then her shoulders dropped.

"That is so not good," Cordelia said sadly, as they left the warehouse to return to the office. They needed to come up with a plan as to what to do now.

*****

Willow hugged Nikolas, as Graham and Amy piled all of their luggage together in the middle of the room. "I'm going to miss all of you," she said with a few tears in her eyes.

"I'll make sure that they're good," Darla said cheekily. Several of the Childer mock glared at her. Willow smiled, certain that no one would kill another while she was gone. She briefly let her eyes wander to the doors leading to the master suite before firmly bringing them to bear on Amy, Graham, and Faith, who were waiting for her. A quick spell and they would be in Europe, ready to have some fun. And hopefully keep her mind off her two mates, who were confirming their bond at this very moment. Amy smiled at her friend as she entered the circle, and then with a few quick words, the four were gone.

"Hey, the Matriarch is gone! Now we can party!" Spike said enthusiastically, making everyone laugh.

Darla smiled from where she was sitting on the couch. It's good to have family, she thought absently, as Penn and Spike decided that now was the perfect time for another one of their grudge matches. 

****

Fin

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